Our view: Unusual crash offers more than a juicy story

It is no secret that the unusual sells in the media world. As the old saying goes - if it bleeds it leads.

That is one reason a bizarre accident in Manitowoc on Saturday night has gone viral. Steven Gove, 56, was riding an adult tricycle while delivering newspapers when he was struck by a car driven by a 20-year-old man who was allegedly drunk. Had that been the only aspect of the story, news outlets from across the country would never have been interested. After all, drunk drivers crash into things - and people - every day.

By a strange quirk of fate, however, Gove was thrown through the windshield of the car, with only his knees and feet outside on the hood, as the young driver sped merrily along and struck another car before proceeding several blocks to his residence. From his precarious position, Gove tried to carry on a brief conversation with the young driver, who Gove said did not respond.

The story had, in media parlance, "legs." It sparked interest far and wide. Milwaukee and Green Bay TV and radio stations, WGN television in Chicago, a Minneapolis newspaper and a Los Angeles TV station all called the Herald Times Reporter for information. The story was all over the Internet and the Associated Press distributed it to its wide network of media outlets.

It will be interesting to discover how many of these outlets carry, as the late and sometimes great newsman Paul Harvey used to say, "the rest of the story." Gove is fortunate to be alive, but his tricycle didn't fare as well. Photos of it show a tangled mass of twisted parts.

A Manitowoc bicycle dealer, John Brunner of The Fitness Store, said he plans to donate to Gove a new Schwinn Trike Cruiser that is on order. That will help Gove resume his newspaper delivery schedule in the near future.

Brunner's generosity is but one key aspect of the rest of the story. Gove's attitude toward the young man who struck him is another. In an HTR video, Gove said he bears no ill will toward the man, who has not yet been formally charged but faces accusations of causing injury by intoxicated driving, hit and run and failure to render aid.

"I have no ill will toward the young man," Gove said. "I hope he can get his life turned around. He's a young man and he deserves a second chance."

That is not an attitude all of us would have under the circumstances, and is unlikely to be part of any followup coverage from media outlets naturally interested in only the more salient aspects of the story.

The accident will soon become yesterday's news, but the generosity and forgiveness it engendered will remain for those who wish to take notice.

ServingManitowoc|Two Rivers|Wisconsin

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Our view: Unusual crash offers more than a juicy story

It is no secret that the unusual sells in the media world. As the old saying goes ? if it bleeds it leads.

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